Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Snyder vs. Phelps


We'll find out what type of country we live in in the Fall when the Supreme Court hears the case of Albert Snyder vs. Fred Phelps. Phelps is the wackjob minister whose group protests at the funerals of deceased soldiers. Senators from 48 states and the district of Columbia have united to stand behind Snyder, the father of one of the soldiers picketed. I'd like to know what the two states were who didn't sign on, so I know never to move there.

"Respondents were and are free to convey their repugnant message in virtually any public manner they choose," the senators said in a brief written by former Clinton administration counsel Walter E. Dellinger III. "But they were not free to hijack petitioners' private funeral as a vehicle for expression of their own hate."

I don't care what the courts say. Free speech is one thing, but this is hate speech. I'm not a constitutional law expert but I don't think this is what the founding fathers had in mind. People in this country should have the right to three things: cable TV, fast food, and a private funeral.

"All we wanted was a private funeral for my son," he said. "They turned it into a three-ring circus." Albert Snyder

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